Census Bureau Taps Draftfcb to Boost Participation in 2010 Census

“It's absolutely vital that everyone participate in the census, and as our nation becomes more diverse, the challenge of reaching everyone becomes greater,” Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon said. “This requires a large, complex, behavior-change campaign, especially one that reaches historically hard-to-count populations.”

According to the Census Bureau, the contractor's efforts will support the 2010 census goals of increasing mail response, enhancing cooperation with enumerators, improving overall accuracy and reducing the differential undercount. The contractor's first assignment will be to work with the Census Bureau and its stakeholders to develop a plan for an integrated communications campaign encompassing advertising, partnerships and media relations.

Working with Draftfcb will be a team of partner agencies that specialize in reaching minority audiences, including Global Hue (black and Hispanic audiences), IW Group (Asian and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander audiences), G&G (American Indian and Alaska Native audiences) and Allied Media (other emerging audiences).

The one-year contract has up to three option years, ending Sept. 30, 2011. Work on the contract begins immediately.

The U.S. Constitution requires a population and housing census every 10 years. Census results are the basis for congressional representation as well as the distribution of federal, state and local funds totaling more than $300 billion annually.

Census day is April 1, 2010.